Down the Mine
'''Down the Mine '''is the twenty-fifth episode of the series. In the US, it aired on the Shining Time Station episodes, Too Many Cooks and Wrong Track. In this episode, Thomas falls down a mine and only a disgraced Gordon can help. Plot One day while Thomas was waiting at the junction, Gordon, who was in disgrace after causing trouble and falling into a ditch, pulls in with some trucks. As soon as Gordon stops, Thomas cracks a joke about ditch water. Before Gordon can respond, Thomas leaves with his coaches. Annie and Clarabel are shocked at Thomas' behaviour, and scold him for it. Thomas was pleased with his clever joke though and runs off to go to the lead mine. The mine was made a long time ago by miners who made tunnels under the ground. The roofs of the tunnels are strong enough to hold up trucks but not engines. At the points, there is a board warning engines not to enter the area. Thomas has often tried to pass the board, but has always failed. This time however, he has made a plan. When Thomas' fireman leaves the cab to change the points, Thomas bumps the trucks hard and knocks his driver off the footplate allowing him to pass the board. Then he moves over the unsafe rails which collapse and leave him teetering into a chasm, and feeling very silly. Then the Fat Controller arrives, having seen everything. After telling Thomas off for his naughtiness, he begins to think about how to get Thomas out. A crane would be too heavy for the ground to support, so he decides to call in Gordon to pull Thomas out. Thomas feels uneasy about this, thinking that Gordon may still be cross with him. Shortly afterward with a winch attached to his buffer beam, Gordon heads to the rescue and surprisingly laughing at the situation. Arriving at the mine, Gordon promises to get Thomas out "in a couple of puffs". A long cable fastened between them and after a lot of hard work and pulling, Gordon is able to finally get Thomas out of the mine. Thomas apologises for his earlier cheekiness, Gordon accepts telling Thomas he found his joke was funny. Now both engines are in disgrace, so they agree to form an alliance and help each other in future. With that, the two engines are coupled together and head back to the shed. Characters *Thomas *Gordon *Annie and Clarabel *Sir Topham Hatt Locations *Lower Tidmouth *Knapford *The Lead Mines Notes *This episode is based on the story of the same name from The Railway Series book, Gordon the Big Engine. *This story is based on a real event that took place at Lindal-in-Furness in 1892. Though in this particular event, the collapsing mine hole was miles deep and all that was recovered of the engine was its tender. *According to a SiF interview with Steve Asquith, this story was the pilot episode of the series. The aired episode is a completely different version. Season one and pilot editor Michael Dixon stated in another SiF interview that the original pilot had simpler sets, fewer characters, and flatter lighting. *Stock footage from Thomas and the Guard and Thomas and Bertie is used. *In the shot of Thomas leaving Knapford, his model from the original pilot cut is used. The scenery in Knapford is slightly different in this shot as well. *The buffers of the truck Thomas bumps into are lowered specifically so that Thomas can hit them properly. *Some of the trucks at the mine have "N. E." written on them. *According to crew member Christopher Noulton, the Gordon model used in the pilot was rebuilt by him for the second season for use as a stand-by model. It was later cut up and used as scrap set dressing. *A CGI recreation of the scene where Thomas falls down the mine was made for Blue Mountain Mystery. *In Denmark this episode is named "Down into the Mine". In Germany and France the title is "In the Mine". In Italy it is "The Sunken Locomotive". In Japan this episode is called "Thomas Fell Into a Hole". *A quick xylophone build up music sting when Thomas bumps the trucks is absent from the UK narration. *In the Welsh version, Thomas wasn't seen bumping into the trucks. Errors *When Thomas shunts Annie and Clarabel his eyes look wonky and Annie and Clarabel are missing their names. *The sign says: "Danger! Engines must not pass this board!" But when Thomas passes the board it says: "Danger! Engines must not pass this point!" *The hole was supposed to be the result of a mine tunnel roof collapsing under Thomas' weight. However, the hole appears to have been already dug out for Thomas to drop into it. *When the Fat Controller says "Let me see", the man to the right was losing his cap's brim. *In the close-up of Thomas down the mine, after the Fat Controller suggests that Gordon could pull Thomas out, a hair is stuck on Thomas' side. *When Gordon goes under the bridge something blue appears above it. *When Gordon and Thomas leave the mine, Thomas' wheels drag along the line for a few seconds before he blows his whistle. *Lower Tidmouth isn't on Thomas' Branch Line. *The sign was different at one point when Thomas passes it in the Welsh version. *Thomas' siderods are in different positions after he is pulled out of the mine and when he and Gordon puff away. US Home Video Releases *Better Late Than Never and Other Stories *Thomas and His Friends Help Out *Thomas and His Friends Get Along and Other Thomas Adventures *Best of Gordon Gallery DownTheMine1985titlecard.jpg|1985 UK title card DowntheMinerestoredtitlecard.png|Restored UK title card DowntheMineoriginalUStitlecard.png|Original US title card DownTheTime1993titlecard.jpg|1993 US title card DowntheMineUStitlecard.png|1996 US title card DowntheMine1998UStitlecard.png|1998 US title card DowntheMineUStitlecard2.png|2003 US title card DowntheMinewelshtitlecard.png|Welsh title card ThomasandBertie45.png|Stock footage ThomasandBertie46.png|Stock footage DowntheMine.png DowntheMine1.png DowntheMine2.png DowntheMine3.png DowntheMine4.png DowntheMine5.png DowntheMine6.png DowntheMine7.png DowntheMine8.png DowntheMine9.png DowntheMine10.png DowntheMine11.png DowntheMine12.png DowntheMine13.png DowntheMine14.png DowntheMine15.png DowntheMine16.png DowntheMine17.png DowntheMine18.png DowntheMine19.png DowntheMine20.png DowntheMine21.png DowntheMine22.png DowntheMine23.png DowntheMine24.png DowntheMine25.png DowntheMine26.png DowntheMine27.png DowntheMine28.png DowntheMine29.png DowntheMine30.png DowntheMine31.png DowntheMine32.png DowntheMine33.png DowntheMine34.png DowntheMine35.png DowntheMine36.png DowntheMine37.png DowntheMine38.png DowntheMine39.png DowntheMine40.png DowntheMine41.png DowntheMine42.png DowntheMine43.png DowntheMine44.png DowntheMine45.png DowntheMine46.png DowntheMine47.png DowntheMine48.png DowntheMine49.png DowntheMine50.png DowntheMine51.png DowntheMine52.png DowntheMine53.png DowntheMine54.png DowntheMine55.png DowntheMine56.png DowntheMine57.png DowntheMine58.png DowntheMine59.png DowntheMine60.png DowntheMine61.png DowntheMine62.png DowntheMine63.png DowntheMine64.png DowntheMine65.png DowntheMine66.png DowntheMine67.png DowntheMine68.png DowntheMine69.png DowntheMine70.png DowntheMine71.png DowntheMine72.png DowntheMine73.png DowntheMine74.jpg DowntheMine74.png DowntheMine75.png DowntheMine76.png DowntheMine77.png DowntheMine78.png DowntheMine79.png|Thomas' pilot model as briefly seen in the episode DowntheMine80.png|The Danger sign translated into Welsh BlueMountainMystery204.png|CGI recreation BlueMountainMystery205.png BlueMountainMystery206.png BlueMountainMystery207.png BlueMountainMystery208.png BlueMountainMystery209.png Category:Season 1 episodes Category:Episodes Category:Thomas and Friends episodes